Legal Aspects ofIntern ational Organization
The Law and Practice of the
United Nations
Volume 53
Fourth Revised Edition
By
Benedetto Conforti and Carlo Focarelli
MA RT INUS
NI]HOFF
P UB LI SH ER S
The titles published in this series are listed at the back of this volume,
and also at: brill.nlllaio
LEIDEN • BOSTON
20 10
This book is pri nted on acid -free pap er.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in -P ublicatio n Data
Conforti. Benedetto.
[Nazloni Unite. Eng lish]
The law and pra ctice of the United Nations I by Benedetto Confor ti, Carlo Focarelli. -4th rev. ed.
p. em. -- (Legal aspects of international organizatio n ; 53)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04 -18629-3 (hardback : alk. pap er) 1. United Nations. I. Focarelli, Carlo.
II. Title.
KZ4986.C6613 2010
341.23--dc22
2010027970
Contents
Preface
Preface to the previous editions
Abbreviations
General bibliography
xi
xiii
xv
xxi
INTRODUCTIO N
l. Or igins of the United Nations Charter
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ISSN 0924-4883
ISBN 978 90 04 18629 3
Copyright 2010 by KoninkI ijke Brill NY, Leid en, 1he Netherlands.
Kon inklijke Brill NV incorporates the imp rint s Brill, Hot ei Publishing.
IDC Publishers. Martin us Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A) From the Atlant ic Charter to the San Francisco Conference
B) The San Francisco Conference, the entry into force of the
Charter, and present United Nations memb ership
C) Relationship between the League of Nations and the
United Nations
The purpos es of the United Nations
The organs
The Charter as a treaty
Interpretation of the Charter
The power to interpret the Charte r
The "rigidity" of the Charter and amendment and review
procedures
Present trends to revise the Char ter
C HA PTER
1
1
3
6
7
8
9
13
16
19
21
l. M EM BERSH IP IN T HE ORGAN IZATI ON
Section I. Acquisition ofMem bership Status
All rights reserved . No part of thi s publication may be reproduced. translated. stored in
a retrieval system. or transmitted in any form or by any mean s. electronic. mechanical.
photocopying. recording or otherwise. without prior written permission from the pub lisher.
Authori zation to ph otoco py items for internal or personal use is gra nted by Koni nkl ijke Brill
NV provi ded that the app ro priate fees are paid directly to The Copyright
Clear ance Center. 222 Rosewood Drive. Suite 910. Danvers. MA 01923 . USA.
Fees are subj ect to change.
9.
10.
11 .
12.
13.
Admission
Admission requirements
Adm ission of mini-States
Admission of neutralized States
The so-called conditional admission and the non-existence
of "positive" obligations of the UN organs
14. Readmission
29
29
33
34
.40
46
Section II. M odifications in Membership Status
15. Suspension
16. Expulsion
17. Withdrawal
47
50
50
-.;-----------------001IIIIII__----------- p
vi
18. Effects of State succ ession on m embership status
19. Go vernme nts created as a result of revolution s or foreign
m ilitary interventions
20. Governments in exile
21. State succession and r ules on cre de ntials
52
57
64
66
Section V. The Interna tional Court ofJustice
40. Organization of th e Co urt
4 1. Election of judges
CHAPTER
C HAPTER
2.
T HE ORGANS
71
74
76
79
81
88
95
97
Section II. The General Asse m bly
30. Co mposition of th e Assembly. Subs idiary organs
31. Voting procedure in the Assembly: A) The "presen t and vot ing"
m ajority
32. B) Simple m ajority and qu alified m ajori ty
33. C) Approval by "conse ns us"
10I
104
106
114
THE FUNCTIONS
Lim its ratione personae an d ratione materiae
The Un ited Nations and non-Memb er States
The domestic jurisdiction clause (Article 2. pa ra. 7)
A) The notion of domestic jurisdiction
I. The legal no tion
II. The not ion u nder Article 2, para. 7
Ill. Developments in th e practice
46. B) The meaning of "intervene"
47. C) The sign ificance of the exception in the last part of
Article 2, para. 7
48. D) Competence to interpret Article 2, para. 7
42.
43.
44.
45.
115
147
147
155
157
· 158
159
165
170
171
175
Section II. Ma intena nce of the Peace: The f un ctions of the Security Council
49.
50.
5 1.
52.
53.
54.
55.
Sect ion Ill. The Secretariat
34. Appointment of the Secretary-General...
35. The Secretariat staff and the legal natu re of the employment
relationships
36. Privileges and immunities of UN officials
37. The protection of UN officials
3.
142
144
Section I. General lim its to the United Nationsfunction s
Section I. The Security Council
22. Composition of the Counc il. Election of non-permanent
Members
23 . Voting proced ure in th e Council: A) The nature of th e four
Powers ' Statement at th e San Francisco Conferen ce
24. B) The so -called veto power and the sign ifican ce of abste ntion
by a perman ent Member
25. C) Abse nce of a perman en t Me mber
26. D) The problem of th e do uble veto
27. E) Abste ntion from voting by a Member party to a dispute
28. F) Approval by "co nsensus"
29. Part icipation in Security Council meetings of States which
are not members of th e organ
vii
Contents
Contents
56.
116
125
129
57.
Section IV. The Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Cou ncil
58.
59.
60.
38. Composition and functions of the Economic and Social
Coun cil
39. The Trusteesh ip Cou ncil
137
141
61.
62.
Ch apters VI and VII of the Charte r
The power to seize th e Counci l
Invest igation
The peaceful sett lement fun ct ion under Chapter V I.
A) Objective pre-co nditions
B) Indication to the States of "procedure s or methods" for
settling differen ces th at ma y en da nger th e peace
C) The indication of "terms of settlement"
Action with respect to maintenan ce of th e pe ace under
Cha pter VII. Gen eral remarks
The determi nation of a th reat to the peace, a breach of the peace,
or an act of aggression
Th e measures pro vided for by th e Charter. A) Recommendations
under Article 39
B) Provisional m easures (Article 40)
C) Me asures not involving th e use offorce (Article 4 1)
D) Measures involvin g the use of force (Articles 42 ff.).
Peacekeeping operations
The authorization of th e use of force by States
Adm ini stration of territories
175
178
182
188
193
196
199
204
220
223
231
256
27 1
287
viii
Contents
Contents
Section III. Maintenance of the Peace: The fun ctions of the
General Assem bly
63. Discussions and recommendations on general question s
64. The peaceful settlement function
65. The prob lem of General Assembly powers regarding "action':
A) The solutions given by the Charter
66. B) The alleged formation of customary rules
Section IX. Registration of treaties
304
305
318
321
338
339
339
345
349
Section VII. The Protection ofHuman Rights
76.
77.
78.
79.
Genera l aspects of United Nations action
Action regarding individual countries
Resolutions of a general nature
The Human RIghts Covenants and the Human Rights
Committee
354
356
359
360
Section VIII. Decoloniza tion and self-determ ination ofpeoples
80. UN compe tence to decide on the ind epend ence of peop les un der
colonial domination
81. The self-determination of peoples
82. Trusteeship
83. The case of Nam ibia
I
86. The judicial settlement of disputes between States
87. The advisory function of the Internation al Court of)ustice
88. Obligatory contributions of the Member States
89. Voluntary contributions
90. Issuance ofloans and other "alternative" funding methods
C HA PTER
325
330
Section VI. Economic co-operation and action for development
71. Political decolonization and economic decolonization.
Co-operation for "sustainable" development
72. The organs charged with economic co-ope ratio n
73. Normative functions
74. Operational functions
75. Relations with Specialized Agencies
377
378
381
382
Section XI. Financing the Organ ization
Section V. Mai ntenance of the Peace and regional organizations
69. Regional action s "authorized" by the Security Council
70. Existing regional Or ganization s
84. Effects of registration
85. Effects of non-registration
Section X. The judicial function s
309
314
Section IV. Main tenance of the Peace: The fun ctions of the
Secretary-General
67. Delegated functions and executive functions
68. Autonomous initiatives for peaceful settlement
ix
364
368
371
374
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
392
400
.401
4. TH E ACTS
Recommendations to the States
Decisions
Organizational resolutions
Operational resolutions
Proposals, authoris ation s, delegations of powers or functions,
approvals, directives, recom men dations between the organs
Declarat ions of principles
The UN resolutions and the rule oflaw: The duty of the organs
to comply with the Charter and with intern ationallaw
The observance of rules of proced ure
Illegality of the acts and the role of consensualism in the
United Nations system
.403
408
410
411
.4 12
413
418
.4 19
422
I ND EX .... .... ..... ........ .... .......... .. ..•.. .. ........ .. .... . ... ... ......... ... ............... ....... ........ .. .... ... . 431